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Born Roxann Caballero, Dawson is the ex-wife of actor Casey Biggs, who played Damar on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and whom she met before either was involved in Trek. She is currently married to casting director Eric Dawson. They have a daughter, Emma, with whom Dawson was pregnant during the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager. Their second daughter, Mia, was adopted from China. Roxann is of Hispanic descent.

Prior to Trek, Dawson had a recurring role on the daytime TV soap opera Another World in 1985. (Her Star Trek: Voyager co-star Jennifer Lien would also join the show during the 1991-92 season.) In 1988, she had a role in the TV movie Broken Angel, alongside Star Trek: The Original Series actor William Shatner. She has appeared in a handful of other films, most notably the 1991 drama Guilty by Suspicion, the 1992 telefilm Mortal Sins in which she co-starred along with famous actor Christopher Reeve, and the 1996 direct-to-video science fiction sequel Darkman III: Die Darkman Die. Dawson and her Star Trek: Voyager co-star Robert Picardo went on to have recurring roles on the short-lived NBC series The Lyon's Den in 2003.

Although she continues to make occasional film and television appearances, Dawson built her directorial debut on Voyager into a successful second career as a television director. In addition to her Voyager and Enterprise work, she has directed episodes of such programs as Crossing Jordan, The O.C., J.J. Abrams' Lost, Cold Case, Heroes starring Zachary Quinto, The Closer starring Raymond Cruz and Gina Ravarra, Lie to Me, The Good Wife, The Mentalist and The Cape. She also directed a 2006 episode of Close to Home guest-starring Enterprise's Connor Trinneer and served as a producer for Cold Case from 2007 to 2009.

Dawson is also a published author. She wrote, with co-author Daniel Graham, the Tenebrea sci-fi trilogy.

Before Star Trek: Voyager was even conceived, Dawson played another character named "Lieutenant Torres" in the 1991 telefilm/failed pilot N.Y.P.D. Mounted.

In November 2001, Dawson appeared on the special Trek-themed version of the game show Weakest Link, along with LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby, John de Lancie, Robert Picardo, William Shatner, Armin Shimerman, and Wil Wheaton. Burton ended up winning the game, while Wheaton apparently angered Dawson with his flirtatious remarks. Dawson was doubly enraged since her husband was among the audience members. Shortly after the broadcast however, she posted to her website's BBS that it had all been in jest and that she was simply having fun sparring with Wil. [X]wbm

Some sites give Dawson's year of birth as 1964, but IMDb and the majority of reliable sources give it as 1958.

Dawson appeared on the cover of TV Guide's 'Sexiest Stars in the Universe' in July 2000.

Dawson appeared in 'Girls of Sci-Fi' feature in the June 2001 issue of the US FHM.

The character of B'Elanna Torres was much younger in age than Dawson. When Star Trek: Voyager started Torres was 22 years old when Dawson was really in her thirties. This is not the first time in Star Trek that an actress has been hired to play a character younger than they were. Kira Nerys, played by actress Nana Visitor, was 26 when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine started, however Visitor was really in her mid-thirties at the time.

Dawson was pregnant during the 4th season of Voyager. She wore a lab coat to hide her pregnancy for most of the season, but in VOY: "The Killing Game" and "The Killing Game, Part II", she was shown on the holodeck to be pregnant, though Seven of Nine confirmed that it was a holographic baby.